unable
New
I'm heading to Akumal next week, and am looking for a dive shop recommendation. Anyone have any glowing reviews (or horror stories) that a fella should hear before going?
Akumal dive shop recommendation
- Thread starter unable
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
You really can't go wrong with any of the three shops in Akumal. Where are you staying? If you're in Half Moon Bay, Akumal Dive Adventures would be the most convenient. Because of their location they are also the less busy of the three. I've been diving with them for about 5yrs and have had nothing but great experiences.
The shops in Akumal Bay - Akumal Dive Center and Akumal Dive Shop -are busier and run a bit more or a regimented operation (stricter on dive times, etc.)
The diving in Akumal is very relaxing. It's drift divng, but the current is very minimal to non-existant. All 3 shops run pretty much the same schedule of 3- single tank trips a day. Sites are only 5-10 minutes out so you won't be stuck on a boat for SI's. Don't expect anything spectacular, just easy reef dives. The reefs have noticably started to deteriorate in the past couple years. And our last trip in Dec we noticed a significant decrease in marine life too. Might have just been a result of some weird weather.
What you will see in Akumal are turtles. Lots of turtles. It's the beginning of the nesting season so you should get even more then usual. (So if you're on the beach at night, please be careful and if you are using a flashlight make sure you've got a red filter on it.) The CEA organizes turtle talks and you can also sign up for their nightly turtle teams that patrol the beaches to mark nests, move them if needed, etc.
The shops in Akumal Bay - Akumal Dive Center and Akumal Dive Shop -are busier and run a bit more or a regimented operation (stricter on dive times, etc.)
The diving in Akumal is very relaxing. It's drift divng, but the current is very minimal to non-existant. All 3 shops run pretty much the same schedule of 3- single tank trips a day. Sites are only 5-10 minutes out so you won't be stuck on a boat for SI's. Don't expect anything spectacular, just easy reef dives. The reefs have noticably started to deteriorate in the past couple years. And our last trip in Dec we noticed a significant decrease in marine life too. Might have just been a result of some weird weather.
What you will see in Akumal are turtles. Lots of turtles. It's the beginning of the nesting season so you should get even more then usual. (So if you're on the beach at night, please be careful and if you are using a flashlight make sure you've got a red filter on it.) The CEA organizes turtle talks and you can also sign up for their nightly turtle teams that patrol the beaches to mark nests, move them if needed, etc.
CO_SKI_MANIAC
Registered
good advice on the shops..i only dove with Dive adventures and they did awesome...as for the turtles, i was there in Sept last year and same thing with the nesting..do they nest multiple times a year? also which shop in Akumal is better for Cenote diving? I heard that Diablo divers (dennis specifically) is where to go...and i think that is in Playa del Carmen??
CO_SKI_MANIAC:
The nesting season runs from about May to about November. Loggerhead and Green turtles nest in Akumal. They will lay eggs up to 7 times a season and the eggs hatch in about 60 days. If you're interested in the turtle nesting, CEA www.ceakumal.org is in charge of the turtle nesting program in Akumal. They have very imformative talks and you can also participate in a nightly turtle walk.
For Cenotes, Dennis is the guy to go with. He IS Diablo Divers and also now owns Aquanauts dive shop in Puerto Aventuras. That's where he's based out of, but he will come to Akumal to pick up divers for cenotes. He's become a very popular cenote guide and does book up in advance since he will only take a max of 4 diver. In Akumal, the Dive Center has cave guides on-staff and I think they have specific days that they go out. You could also do Hidden Worlds. If it's your first time in the cenotes then Hidden Worlds can be fun. They also have other things to do at their park - cenote snorkel tours, zipline, sky cycle. Akumal Dive Adventures doesn't have a cave guide but they usually have ones that they can put you touch with to make your arrangements.
docmartin
Contributor
scubawife:
Hidden Worlds saves you money, too. you just show up there (check the web for times) and they have guides that will take you. they charge about $30 less than dive shops. obviously their costs are lower since they do not have to spend money and time on getting you to the Cenote.
yak
Contributor
docmartin:
If you use Hidden Worlds, you might consider diving DreamGate. I've heard it's even more decorated than Dos Ojos, but only HW can dive it. I haven't been there yet.
yak:
Not sure if it's still the case, but the originally had a rule that in order to dive Dream Gate you had to first do either their Dos Ojos or Bat Cave dive. They didn't want anyone in there who didn't have good bouyancy control. They also did not allow divers to bring in photo or video cameras.
Similar threads
